I Am A Taxi

For twelve-year-old Diego and his family, home is the San Sebastian Women’s Prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents farmed coca, a traditional Bolivian medicinal plant, until they got caught in the middle of the government’s war on drugs. Diego’s parents are locked up, but he can come and go to school, to the market to sell his mother’s hand-knitted goods, and to work as a “taxi,” running errands for other prisoners. But then his little sister runs away, earning his mother a heavy fine. The debt and dawning realization of his hopeless situation make him vulnerable to his friend Mando’s plan to make big money, fast. Soon, Diego is deep in the jungle, working as a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation. As his situation becomes more and more dangerous, he knows he must take a terrible risk if he ever wants to see his family again.

Swordbird

The blue jays and cardinals of Stone-Run Forest have turned against each other. According to legend, only Swordbird, son of the Great Spirit, has the power to conquer evil and restore peace to the land. But is he real or just a myth? Can Swordbird arrive in time to save the forest . . . or will it be too late? Twelve-year-old author Nancy Yi Fan has woven a captivating tale about the birds of Stone-Run Forest and the heroism, courage, and resourcefulness in their quest for peace.

How to Catch a Fish

Thirteen linked verses and handsome, mood-drenched paintings show how we catch fish–from New England to the Arctic, to Japan and Namibia and beyond. This lovely picturebook–about fishing, geography, people and customs, and the bond between parent and child fishing together–will appeal to everyone who’s cast a line in the water.

Bee-Bim Bop!

Bee-bim bop is a traditional Korean dish of rice mixed with meat and vegetables. In bouncy rhyming text, a hungry child tells about helping her mother make bee-bim bop: shopping, preparing ingredients, setting the table, and finally sitting down with her family to enjoy a favorite meal. The energy and enthusiasm of the young narrator are conveyed in the whimsical illustrations, which bring details from the artist’s childhood in Korea to his depiction of a modern Korean American family.

Clockwork

An apprentice clockmaker facing failure…a writer with a story he can’t control….a girl whose courage will need to match her kindness…a prince whose mechanical heart is winding down…a clockwork knight with murderous tendencies…and a doctor who just may be the Devil. Their stories come together piece by piece in this chilling tale where nothing is as it seems, but like the gears of a strange and wonderful clock, everything fits together.

My New Shirt

Receiving the yearly birthday gift from his grandmother has become David’s living nightmare. The “surprise” she always has for him never varies. How can he stop this never-ending flow of stiff, white, scratchy shirts — “perfect gentlemen” shirts that make him squirm and pull and shift and twitch? David closes his eyes and imagines a long line of shirts — one for every year of his life — stretching on forever. Then suddenly, without really intending to, he has done the unthinkable. “DAVID!” his mother screams. And when David opens his eyes, there are his mother, his father, and his bubbie staring at him. The shirt is no longer in his hands. He has thrown it out the window! Now it is out on the street, in the jaws of his dog, and the very merry chase is on. Bitingly funny and keenly observed, My New Shirt is graphically presented as a photo album commemorating David’s desperate act of liberation from a family tradition badly in need of a change.

Poison

Poison has always been a willful, contrary girl, prone to being argumentative and stubborn. So when her sister is snatched by the mean-spirited phaeries, she seeks out the Phaerie Lord to get her back. But finding him isn’t easy, and the quest leads Poison into a murderous world of intrigue, danger, and deadly storytelling. With only her wits and her friends to aid her, Poison must survive the attentions of the Phaerie Lord and rescue her sister.

Uncle Monarch and the Day of the Dead

When the monarch butterflies return to the Mexican countryside where Lupita lives, she knows that it means that Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is near. She and her favorite uncle watch the butterflies as they flutter in the trees. When a butterfly lands on Lupita’s hand, her uncle reminds her that she should never capture or hurt a monarch because they are believed to be the souls of the departed.

The Park Bench

All through the sunny day the white bench in the park provides pleasure for the many people who come by, from the old man taking a walk to the children playing in the park. This is a Japanese/English bilingual book.

Pay Dirt: The Search For Gold In British Columbia

They came from China and Australia, from Scotland, England and Wales, from across Canada and the United States. They came from one thing: Gold!

Some stayed forever; some gave up and left; others lost their lives. But as the more determined struggled into the heart of the new region, they dug roads, built cities and established businesses. And by the time it was all over, the new providence of British Columbia was formed.

Some struck it rich; many more did not. This is their story.